Equal

by W.J. Costello

This collection contains all three Equal books (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) in a single book. Janus is a lawman who enforces society's sacred law that every citizen must be Equal in every way. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. But when Janus falls in love with a woman who broke that law he begins a transformative journey of self-discovery that makes him question the society in which he lives. Now he must choose between love and duty. Will he bring the woman to justice? Or will he join her and become a lawbreaker himself?

Genres: Dystopia, Science Fiction

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 28, 2014

About the author

W.J. Costello is a former journalist who now writes books. He lives in Virginia and Florida.

Reviews

[Stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was some great insight into human nature in this novel, especially regarding envy and resentment (something that resonates in my experience). Also, the author understands economics well--when a government forces equality of outcome on all of its citizens, the result is a loss of freedom for every citizen. This economic principle is especially relevant in modern America. In addition to the deep concepts in the novel, the story is well-told and fun to read. Highly recommended.

[Tanya Kettering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Planning on reading this novel more than once.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story until the end

Starts out pretty good but goes completely bananas at the end! Hmm, let's dump this concoction from my canteen into a test tube and voila! Miracle babies that are smart and can reproduce! Nevermind that this society will kill them if they are attractive and fertile. I could go on for pages about how a society like this could never function. You turn a certain are and you're suddenly a geneticist. What this...? The idea was good but not thought through at all.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

The premise of this book really appealed to me. I was excited to get reading. I immediately wanted to know how this world was built. Mors and Janus were great characters for introducing the world. Two elements that I thought enhanced the world were the equalizers and the system of age-based professions. The idea of freedom versus equality seems very relevant to today's society. Part one was fun to read.

After that, it went downhill. Fairly major inconsistencies came to light. The story would awkwardly jump ahead. Many elements were overly convenient. The relationships between characters did not seem to have any realistic basis. The violence seemed gratuitous. The characters were not lovable and the ending was very weak due to implausibility.